ABA Annual Meeting 2026: Five Sessions We're Looking Forward To
The ABA Annual Meeting 2026 is just around the corner, bringing together burn care professionals focused on improving outcomes, advancing research, and strengthening programs.
Among this year's sessions, we're especially excited about the ones focused on data, performance improvement, and modern tools in burn care.
Below are 5 sessions we're excited about and why they matter for burn teams today.
Sessions We're Looking Forward To
1. Quality & Burn Registry Workshop
April 14, 2026 - Burn registry, reporting, data quality
From their agenda:
This comprehensive, full-day course is designed to provide burn registry professionals with practical strategies and hands-on experience to elevate their skills and effectiveness in burn care data management.
Participants will gain valuable insights and tools to enhance the quality of data reported through the Burn Care Quality Platform (BCQP) and explore the platform's advanced reporting functionalities.
Why this matters:
For burn programs, stronger registry workflows and cleaner data make it easier to trust reports, identify opportunities for improvement, and support performance improvement efforts with more confidence.
2. How to Create a Robust PI/QI Process in Burn Care
April 15, 2026 - PI / QI, loop closure
From their agenda:
This session will emphasize the importance of a comprehensive Performance Improvement (PI) and Quality Improvement (Ql) process in optimizing the care delivered to burn patients.
You'll then review some of the barriers in creating a robust Pl program, including securing buy-in from invested stakeholders, cultivating a non-punitive culture of learning, and ensuring action plans are followed through with proper loop closure. Finally, participants will strategize ways to create strong Burn Pl programs that can achieve long-lasting, meaningful reforms.
Why this matters:
This session focuses on the practical work of building a PI/QI process that teams can sustain and follow through on.
3. Burn Leadership Bootcamp
April 15, 2026 - Program ops, PI, verification readiness
From their agenda:
Helping run a burn center is not just about patient care, but also about being an administrator, a manager, and a leader. Many practitioners are put in leadership positions in burn centers without any training in team building and leadership.
Leadership skills, in all disciplines and on all levels, can increase productivity and effectiveness. The boot-camp curriculum addresses: how to assess your burn center-gap analysis; measuring financial health of your center; having effective leadership & communication skills; how to do quality improvement; developing relationships with your community; how to prepare for verification; and how to develop a research program.
Why this matters:
This session brings together the operational and leadership skills needed to run a stronger burn program beyond bedside care alone.
4. Ethics Involved in Burn Research
April 15, 2026 - Data integrity, research governance
From their agenda:
Using realistic scenarios, this symposium gives you an open opportunity to evaluate current research practices and expand your knowledge of ethical considerations related to research.
Topics to be discussed include the role of industry in influencing burn research, the application of Al in research, plagiarism, and data fabrication. Knowledgeable and experienced researchers will lead the session, guiding the discussion through topics that can sometimes be complex.
Why this matters:
This session highlights the importance of research integrity as burn programs adopt new tools and navigate complex ethical questions.
5. Rise and Shine: Innovating with Tech and AI in Burn Prevention
April 16, 2026 - Data, AI, outreach, reporting
From their agenda:
The landscape of public health education is rapidly evolving, and burn prevention and outreach are no exception. You'll explore the transformative potential of leveraging accessible, affordable, no-cost, and low-cost technologies to amplify burn prevention efforts and expand outreach to wider audiences.
Through shared discussion and audience interaction, you'll dive into practical applications of electronic surveys, online registrations, QR codes, gamification platforms, and how Al can enhance content creation and outreach strategies. Discover how these innovative tools can amplify your prevention efforts, optimize resource allocation, maximize reach, and foster the integration of evaluation metrics into your programming.
Why this matters:
This session looks at practical ways to use low-cost technology and AI to strengthen burn prevention outreach and evaluation.
From Data to Decisions in Burn Care
Across these sessions we've highlighted, common themes stand out:
- Better data quality
- Stronger PI processes
- Smarter reporting and insights
- More connected systems and outreach
The goal is not for teams to just collect more data. The goal is to make the data they collect more usable, actionable, and aligned with how burn programs actually operate day-to-day.
NQS is focused on our first-in-class burn registry, helping teams turn their data into actionable data via reporting, dashboards, and integration into PI.
See a demo of it at the NQS booth 905, or get a demo online.
Stop by the NQS Booth 905
April 14-16
If you're attending the ABA Annual Meeting, we'd love to connect.
Stop by the booth to:
- See a demo of the NQS burn registry
- Explore our trauma registry & PI platform
- Learn how teams are improving workflows, reporting, and data quality
- Meet the team and talk through your program's needs
Not Attending? You Can Still Connect
Not making it to Orlando this year? No problem. Explore how the NQS platform supports burn and trauma programs. Book a demo to try it yourself and see how it fits your workflow.
See You at ABA 2026
Events like the ABA Annual Meeting are a great reminder that the burn care community continues to evolve, not just clinically, but operationally and technologically.
We're looking forward to the conversations, the sessions, and the opportunity to learn alongside the burn care community.
If you're attending, we hope to see you there.